— About Dr. Steven White
Steven White,
MD, PhD
Steven White is a dual board-certified forensic and anatomic pathologist with subspecialty training in cardiovascular pathology. His practice spans forensic death investigation, hospital autopsy pathology, cardiovascular surgical pathology, and expert witness work in civil and criminal litigation across the United States and Canada.
What distinguishes his expert witness practice is not a single credential but the combination of an active clinical practice across multiple institutional contexts, academic engagement at a research university, and direct subspecialty expertise in cardiovascular pathology, an area of significant importance in many disputed death cases.
About
— Training and Credentials
education
Dr. White completed his medical degree and PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He completed residency training in anatomic pathology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD and fellowship training in forensic pathology at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office in Chicago.
He holds dual board certifications from the American Board of Pathology in:
- Forensic Pathology
- Anatomic Pathology
He has advanced training in cardiovascular pathology, an area with direct relevance to sudden cardiac death, drug related deaths, deaths in police custody, and litigation involving alleged cardiac complications.
Institutional Experience
Dr. White's career has taken him through some of North America's most demanding medicolegal environments.
This range of institutional experience, across US and Canadian jurisdictions, forensic and hospital settings, and both coroner and medical examiner systems, gives Dr. White a broad and practical understanding of how death investigation is conducted, documented, and challenged.
Ontario Forensic Pathology Service
Currently serves as a forensic pathologist, performing forensic autopsies under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario.
Toronto General Hospital
Currently serves as cardiovascular and autopsy pathologist, providing subspecialty expertise in cardiac pathology and conducting hospital autopsies on complex cases.
Cook County Medical Examiner's Office
Previously served as Assistant Medical Examiner and Cardiovascular Pathology Consultant at one of the highest-volume medical examiner offices in the United States. Cook County handles thousands of medicolegal cases annually across a wide spectrum of manner and cause of death determinations.
British Columbia Coroners Service
Previously served as Lead Forensic Pathologist, overseeing forensic pathology services across a major Canadian province.
Academic Teaching & Research
Dr. White is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, where he teaches medical students, residents, and clinical fellows in pathology. His academic work includes peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, an invited review article, and national and international presentations on forensic pathology, cardiovascular pathology, sudden death, molecular autopsy, and death investigation methodology.
Below is a short list of relevant publications. For the full list, please see page 5 of Dr. White's CV here.
Book Chapters
- "Evaluation for Cardiac Diseases," in Unexplained Pediatric Deaths: Investigation, Certification, and Family Needs (NAME Panel on Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Pediatrics), 2019
- "Research Needs," in the same volume, 2019 (contributing author)
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Webster et al., "Genomic Autopsy of 103 Sudden Deaths in the Young Demonstrates Monogenic and Oligogenic Risk," JAMA Cardiology, 2021
- Gitto, Serinelli, Arunkumar, White, "Sudden Cardiac Deaths in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease... A Retrospective Review of Cases in the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office," Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2020
- Serinelli, White, Arunkumar, Wang, Gitto, "The Outbreak of Fentanyl-Related Deaths in Cook County, Illinois... A Retrospective Study," Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2019
- Shanks et al., "Importance of Variant Interpretation in Whole-Exome Molecular Autopsy: A Population-Based Case Series," Circulation, 2018
- Serinelli, Arunkumar, White, "Undiagnosed Congenital Heart Defects as a Cause of Sudden, Unexpected Death in Children," Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2018
- Middleton et al., "NAME Position Paper: Recommendations for the Investigation and Certification of Deaths in People with Epilepsy," Academic Forensic Pathology / Epilepsia, 2018 (companion publications)
Invited Review Article
- White, Constantin, Claycomb, "Cardiac Physiology at the Cellular Level: Use of Cultured HL-1 Cardiomyocytes for Studies of Cardiac Muscle Cell Structure and Function," American Journal of Physiology, 2004 — older and more basic-science, optional to include
Expert Witness Practice
Dr. White has testified in both criminal and civil matters in the United States and Canada. He has been retained by plaintiffs and defendants, and by prosecution and defense. His opinions reflect the evidence — not the preferences of the retaining party.
Case types he regularly handles include:
- Cause and manner of death determinations
- Sudden cardiac death and natural cardiovascular disease
- Blunt, sharp, and gunshot wound analysis
- Asphyxia and restraint-related death
- Decomposition and interpretation of postmortem changes
- Toxicological findings in the context of death
- Hospital autopsy findings in medical malpractice and wrongful death matters
- Complex cases involving overlapping natural disease and trauma
- Pediatric death investigation
- Child abuse cases, including shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma
- Molecular autopsy and genetic causes of sudden death
WORKING
— Fees and structure
WORKING WITH Dr. White
Dr. White responds to inquiries promptly and provides realistic timelines before taking on a case. He communicates directly with retaining attorneys throughout the engagement, not through intermediaries, and he flags issues as they arise, not at deposition.
His fee structure is straightforward with an hourly rate of $700 and a retainer of $3500, which covers the first five hours of work. Depositions and trials are charged at flat rates. A retainer is required to begin work.
He does not reduce fees based on outcome, and he does not take cases on contingency.
If after a preliminary conversation it's clear he is not the right fit for a matter, he'll say so directly.
”
Dr. White has always been responsive to all my inquiries and helped me understand complex and subtle medical issues that opened up my understanding to the forensic issues at play in many homicide cases I have handled. His work was vital in one particular case in which the State had alleged homicide by strangulation, but Dr. White's analysis ultimately revealed that this was an accidental death by overdose--resulting in my client's charge of murder being dismissed.
Tina Heather Nadeau
Criminal Defense Attorney
